The Atlanta Hawks announced that Trae Young was the recipient of this year's Sekou Smith Award, which honors the player on the team who represents themselves and the franchise with professionalism and integrity with the media. Young was voted for the award by local media.

Before their final regular season game against the Orlando Magic, head coach Quin Snyder spoke about Young winning the award.

“Sometimes we forget Trae in particular, was thrust into such a primary role at a young age, and his growth has taken place on a lot of different levels, and this is one of them,” Snyder said. “It’s something that I feel a lot of pride in on his behalf.

“I'm glad to see that recognized, because it's representative of first, I think it raised awareness on his part, that this is something that it's another way that you can impact a team and an organization. And then as that awareness gets raised, you start to envision those situations where that can occur. You become conscious of them, and then, you know, you apply yourself in those areas. And it's a heck of an award, and I'm glad that he's recognized in that way, and something he should be very proud of, and we should all appreciate on his behalf.”

Young has been in a role this season where he's had to lead the young guys on the team, and he's been fully invested in doing so. With Jalen Johnson going down midway through the season, Young has stepped up on the court as well, averaging 24.2 points and 11.6 assists per game.

Trae Young gets real on the Hawks' future

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The Hawks have been battling all season despite the injuries and trades that have occurred throughout the year, and they've found themselves in the position to make the playoffs. First, they have to get through the Play-In Tournament, and they'll either have to play the Cleveland Cavaliers or Boston Celtics.

Young knows that the Hawks are not at the level of those two teams just yet, but he believes that they can get there soon.

“I understand the space that we’re in right now,” said Young on Chris Haynes' podcast. “There’s probably two– or maybe three – teams in the East that people really can see as contending teams. And for us, I don’t think we’re there yet, and I feel like that’s okay. I feel like here in a couple years we could be, or in the next year we could be.”

The Hawks are still a young team, but they've shown this season that they have the building blocks to be a contender in the near future.